Andy plays guitar for the band Dodgy. I’m a massive Dodgy fan, have been ever since I bought ‘Homegrown’ from Our Price in Fareham shopping centre when it was on a display of new release recommendations. I told my GCSE art teacher about it and she gave me a tape of their first album (on the other side was The La’s – The La’s). I was pretty much sold from there. Loads of my mates’ first gig was Dodgy at Gosport Heineken beer festival, I wasn’t there but I’ve been led to believe it was epic, my own abiding Dodgy gig memory was at Glastonbury 1995, I’d just finished school and me and 3 mates got the coach up with wide eyes and hungry appetites. The Stone Roses had pulled out and Dodgy made it their personal mission to appease the disappointment that was in danger of turning into resentment. They summed Glastonbury up for me. I recently told Andy about the fact you could see me and my mate on peoples shoulders during the BBC footage. Oh to be young and stoned again…
‘Fun’ is often what people think of when they think of Dodgy, and that’s cool, no bad thing, but let’s remember they’ve written some fucking ace tunes, and Andy is one of the most under-rated guitarists the modern British guitar scene has produced. There are many creative guitarists, and there are many soulful guitarists, but in Andy, Dodgy are lucky enough to have someone who is both. A great player, in a great band. Lucky bastard.
————————————————————————————————————————————————
“Growing up in a house with four older sisters in their teens, my early memories were soundtracked by the sound of the radio playing the latest chart countdowns of the 70’s while they busied themselves getting ready for school or going out. Their tastes varied from one to the other, due to their differing personalities, but I discovered a few years later as one by one they left home that their taste in music wasn’t all just about the latest Donny Osmond record, because in the collection of vinyl’s they left behind, I found some nuggets that hit home and set me up with the sort of music that was away from the mainstream when I myself came into my teen years. Though not all of these play-listed songs are part of that vinyl collection, they do owe something to those early years, as do I, I might well have become someone very different had I taken the Osmond route.”
Grab the ‘A Bit Of Dodgy’ playlist HERE, the ‘Avoiding the Osmonds’ playlist HERE and check the past playlists HERE.
‘Avoiding the Osmonds’
01 The Weight – The Band
02 And It Stoned Me – Van Morrison
03 Grandma’s Hands – Bill Withers
04 Theme From The Persuaders – John Barry
05 Blowin’ Up My Mind – The Exciters
06 Dogs – The Who
07 Cost of Loving – Dogs
08 Do You Believe In Magic – The Lovin’ Spoonful
09 Champagne & Reefer – Muddy Waters
10 Some Velvet Morning – Lee Hazlewood, Nancy Sinatra
11 Freedom – Jimi Hendrix (Live at the Isle of White)
12 You Said Something – PJ Harvey
13 Revenge – Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse feat. Wayne Coyne
14 Can’t Find My Way Home – Blind Faith
15 Down On The Corner – Creedence Clearwater Revival
A seasonal selection inspired by one of many fine compilations made for me by brother Andrew www.paranoidfoundation.blogspot.com. He’s responsible for rescuing my early MOR musical meanderings when one Christmas when he bought me the albums Dry by PJ Harvey and Copper Blue by Sugar.
We both hail from the Isle of Wight where ghost stories have always been rife and we both share a huge passion for Ventnor favourite The Bees, a band who we’ve both seen more than any other! Seeing them perform a rowdy set on South Parade Pier at the time of their Octopus album was a particularly memorable night.
Living close to the Wedgewood Rooms for many years I have been able to enjoy some fantastic local music at the drop of a hat! Some real gems too including Broken Social Scene, Nitzer Ebb, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Les Rhythm Digitales, Paloma Faith, Franz Ferdinand, Stereolab, Yeasayer and Laura Marling…keep it coming Wedgewood Rooms!
Grab the playlist HERE and check the past playlists HERE.
Happy Halloween!
The playlist:
01 These are the Ghosts – The Bees
02 Walking with a Ghost – Tegan and Sara
03 There’s a Ghost in my house – R. Dean Taylor
04 Ghost – Turin Brakes
05 Ghost – Rogue Wave
06 Your Ghost – Kristin Hersh
07 Ghost Highway – Mazzy Star
08 Ghost – Neutral Milk Hotel
09 The Ghost of a small tour boat captain – Artery
10 Drove through Ghosts to get here – 65daysofstatic
11 Ghosts – Ladytron
12 Ghost Song – The Doors with Jim Morrison
13 The Ghost (Marcus Garvey) – Burning Spear
14 Ghost Town – The Specials
15 Ghosts – The Jam
16 Giving up the Ghost – DJ Shadow
17 Ghost Rider – Suicide
18 Ghost – Bombay Bicycle Club
19 Is there a Ghost – Band of Horses
20 Ghost – Antony & the Johnsons
This week, my big sis delivers an eclectic mix which helps to demonstrate how I got a good start to music when I was in short trousers.
“When your baby brother snaps his musical fingers you jump! Especially if you have an end to keep up. I profess to have taught him everything he knows (about music) but of course this isn’t true. He stopped listening to me in about 1987. There are ties that bind though and The Beach Boys is one of them. I don’t think our tastes have ever drifted that far apart but he might have drawn the line at Dolly! I love a lanky, be-quiffed rockabilly (JD) and I love a hand clap (JH). The video to New Rose is one of the best of all time – I am particularly fond of the cigarette dangling daintily from the lips of Rat Scabies throughout. My guilty pleasure is Hall & Oates and as for Bobby Darin…he’s one of my 6 year old son’s favourites. And I wish I WAS Sugar Pie DeSanto. I still pedal my wares to an audience of small children on my website Hip Auntie and online at Radio Nowhere dot Org. Now I just need to get spotified. Thank you Charlie. X”
Grab the Pet Sounds playlist HERE and check the past playlists HERE.
Hip Auntie’s Pet Sounds – www.hipauntie.com
01 I Cannot Find A True Love – Cliff Richard & The Shadows
02 New Rose – The Damned
03 Help Me, Rhonda – The Beach Boys
04 Trams Of Old London – Robyn Hitchcock
05 Soulful Dress – Sugar Pie DeSanto
06 Blues Run The Game – Neville Skelly
07 Don’t Let Go – Jerry Lee Lewis
08 I Ain’t Never – Webb Pierce
09 North Side Gal – JD McPherson
10 Heart – Nick Lowe
11 Number 9 Train – Tarheel Slim
12 Cherokee Boogie – Johnny Horton
13 Marry Me – Dolly Parton
14 Camellia – Hall & Oates
15 The Ballad Of Cat Ballou – Bobby Darin
I found out yesterday that REM had split up. It’s my opinion that they always got a bum deal with the cool kids, lumped in with U2, Simple Minds and other 80s/90s rock bores. I’ve put this together to show that love them or hate them, to deny the sheer volume of memorable songs they contributed to the world is just a bit naïve. There are tons of obvious omissions but this is my pick. It’s chronological save for the first and last track.
I went to see REM in 1995 at Milton Keynes Bowl and it was brilliant, they commanded an elated and adoring crowd like very few bands I’ve seen since. People are going to be listening to REM for a long time and hopefully these 30 tracks will remind you why.
If they were good enough for KRS-One and Patti Smith, then they’re good enough for me.
Grab the Pet Sounds playlist HERE and check the past playlists HERE.
01 It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
02 Radio Free Europe
03 (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville
04 So, Central Rain
05 Can’t Get There From Here
06 Driver 8
07 Fall On Me
08 The One I Love
09 Orange Crush
10 Stand
11 Get Up
12 Losing My Religion
13 Radio Song
14 Near Wild Heaven
15 Nightswimming
16 Drive
17 Man On The Moon
18 What’s The Frequency, Kenneth
19 Strange Currencies
20 E-Bow The Letter
21 Electrolite
22 Daysleeper
23 At My Most Beautiful
24 All The Way To Reno
25 Imitation Of Life
26 Supernatural Superserious
27 Until The Day Is Done
28 Mine Smell Like Honey
29 UBerlin
30 Find The River
I met Ben just over a year ago at a friend’s party, it was a lovely summers day and we all spent the day in a field, barbeque on the go, beers flowing, conversation flowing and random sports equipment flying through the sky. When evening came round we all gathered under various gazebos and continued to drink, chat and listen to music, I was transfixed by the last one as it sounded like someone had got inside my head and discovered 100 songs that I wish I knew and owned but didn’t, the stuff that Ben had compiled sounded like absolute classics, yet I barely knew any of them, I think I was able to name 2 on the night. Anyway, I was suitably impressed and told Ben as much, a week or so later, I bugged him on Facebook and he sent me a couple of CDs that I promptly lost whilst building my studio in my house. So it is with an appropriate level of satisfaction, I pass you over to Ben.
It’s worth noting that Ben struggled to find a full 15 tracks on Spotify, such is the fickle nature of licencing. Nevertheless, what follows is a class in class.
“I have been collecting records since the early 90s but for about the last 8 years I have been predominantly preoccupied with underground American rock/folk/psychedelic music from the 60s and 70s, partly originating from my discovery of the Lysergia website and the Acid Archives. My original intention was to create a playlist of lesser known artists from the 70s who had clearly taken musical cues from Neil Young but Spotify’s limited archive made such a compilation impossible to share. Therefore I abandoned a more cohesive playlist for a bunch of songs I like from the 70s by some obscure and less obscure artists. Styles range from folk to hard rock to outsider/weird. If you think this might interest you then have a listen.”
Grab the Pet Sounds playlist HERE and check the past playlists HERE.
‘70s mixtape’
01 Waiting For The Rain – Jade Stone & Luv
02 Gypsy Solitaire – Fraser & DeBolt
03 The Unicorn – Peter Grudzien
04 Song Of A Sinner – Top Drawer
05 The Prophet – Azitis
06 Forge Your Own Chains – D.R. Hooker
07 Make A Joyful Noise – MU
08 Sanc-Divided – Fraction
09 Fire Climbs – Dragonwyck
10 Dark Thoughts – New Dawn
11 Crying Shame – Frijid Pink
Scott comes down to listen to me play records at the Dog, he’s given me a handful of (amazing) compilations, and he’s never too proud to ask who a song is by, I was particularly pleased to introduce him to the wonder that is ‘Forever Changes’ by Love. He’s been a reputable DJ round these parts far longer than me (although that makes it sound like I’m reputable so…) and so it was a no-brainer that I wanted a contribution from him. He actually got himself quite wound up when we were talking about ideas he’d had for playlists, a few having already been done, and a few that could’ve been called derivative, mainly due to songs taking import over theme. And so it was, he went away and came back with a finely honed, well thought out and most importantly, banging collection of gems, I felt bad when he left the DJ booth that night, but Christ it was worth winding him up…
Over to Scott.
Like most folk, having been asked by Charlie to compile 15 tracks for Pet Sounds, I straight away focused my research on how many songs there were out there that had the word ‘pussy’ in the title… well, it was for kicks if anything else, I got up to 23 tracks and figured I would wean out some of the more, let’s say, sexually titillating numbers, leaving me with various versions of El Pussy Cat by The Skatalites, Mongo Santamaria or Georgie Fame (take your pick) – Iggy Pop’s Pussy Walk was present as was Pussy Stank by Andre Williams, Scarlet Pussy by Prince, Black Sugar’s – Pussy Cat (great track). Heck I even had John Barry’s Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus instrumental from Goldfinger, but enough was enough, “get a grip Scott and concentrate”.
I had been listening to a few David Holmes albums prior to putting this comp together. I always like how he arranges his scores and would sandwich songs from other artists in between them, which in turn delivers a space, as in a space between music, be it a brief interlude or a pause for thought. It can change direction and move the listener on to something quite different. I went with the idea that my theme would be Verbs of Unaided Human Motion, you know, to run, to walk, to strut, to scoot etc… and that I would somehow put together a linear soundscape to it.
Some, if not most of the tracks present here are new to me, I had fifteen pieces of a puzzle and I had to put them all together to make some kind of linear beginning, middle and end. There are also some sleazy numbers thrown in for good measure, but so that it doesn’t sound too Tarantino-esque I’ve stuck a Harry Belafonte track in there for fun, enjoy.
Grab the Pet Sounds playlist HERE and check the past playlists HERE.
‘Verbs of Unaided Human Motion’
01. Young Man, Flee – AK5A
02. Let’s Take A Walk – Raphael Saadiq
03. Wade In The Water – Ramsey Lewis Trio
04. Higher You Climb – JJ Grey & Mofro
05. Running Out – Mable John
06. Stagger Lee – John Holt
07. Swagger – Joe Brown & The Bruvvers
08. The Stroll Part 2 – Binky Griptite & The Mellomatics
09. Swim – Jack Hammer
10. Mo’ Calypso Strut – Calypso King & The Soul Investigators
11. Jump In The Line – Harry Belafonte
12. Louisiana Hop – Pete “Guitar” Lewis
13. Late Night Scurry – Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds
14. Tiptoe On The Highest Hill – Twink
15. The Scoot – Stoned Rock
This week (a bit late. My fault, not Charlies), we have the female face of Strong Island, far prettier than Pete Miles and with an equally impressive array of tattoos. It was always the intention of us here at Pet Sounds to give voice to all tastes and persuasions and I reiterate, if you think you can do better, give me a shout. Cheers Alanna for your efforts, another belting mixtape, guaranteed to brighten everyone’s rainy Thursday.
“I was very lucky to grow up in a house hold full of music. I remember first meeting my Step-Father and being introduced to the likes of Nina Simone, Carole King, Joni Mitchell (the list goes on). Ever since then I have always had a passion for the female vocals and because of this I have decided to infiltrate your ears with a mixture of my current favourites.
I have decided to keep it fairly modern; everyone knows the oldies, right? To introduce you to something you maybe haven’t heard before. There’s break-ups, there’s make-ups and there are just some songs with that extra bit of soul. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did making it.”
Grab the Pet Sounds playlist HERE and check the past playlists HERE.
“One More Time For The Ladies”
01 Mr. Gaunt PT 1000 – Soap&Skin
02 Wasted Daylight – Stars
03 Gray Or Blue – JayMay
04 My Pet Snakes – Jenny And Johnny
05 Chromes On It – Telepathe
06 Tie Me Up With Jackets – Fight Like Apes
07 Handshakes – Metric
08 Hours – Lemuria
09 Don’t Falter – Mint Royale
10 Back And Forth – Operator Please
11 Home – The Suzan
12 The Jazz Singer – Ada
13 I Can’t Stand – Zola Jesus
14 One Day – Sharon Van Etten
15 Pick Up The Phone – Dragonette
It’s with great pleasure that I introduce this week’s compiler, Steve is one of my oldest and best mates and someone else I used to be in a band with. He’s known to Southsea as either Handsome Steve or Artfag Steve. Both affectionate names that are equally deserved. Like me, his most loved and revered band is Led Zeppelin, so I knew we were in safe hands when it came to a playlist. It’s worth noting that when I first met Steve, he was wearing a T Shirt emblazoned with the orange telephone from Menswear’s first single “I’ll Manage Somehow”. Thank God he got back to Led Zeppelin…
“The theme for this playlist came to me pretty much as soon as Charlie asked me to put one together, which given my mind cripplingly hungover state at the time, I took as a sign that it must be divinely inspired. As anyone who knows me will attest – I f***ing love Led Zeppelin, but aside from some dodgy karaoke versions you ain’t gettin’ nuttin’ on Spotify. However, it’s no secret that the band wore their influences on their sleeves and ‘borrowed’ quite heavily from other musicians, most of whom are available – so here it is, a Spotify friendly, indirect Led Zepplin playlist.
It was common practice for bands in the 60′s to cut their teeth playing ‘standards’ and re-interpreting other people’s material in their own style, look at the story of ‘Louie, Louie’ (when was the last time you heard Richard Berry on the radio?) or look at Bob Dylan who built a career out of imitating Woodie Guthrie and a host of lesser known black musicians, and I’m not even going to get started on the Rolling Stones…..
Listen to these songs and then dig out the vinyl and listen to Led Zeppelin, and I think you’ll agree that what the plagiarism freaks miss is the fact that Led Zeppelin absolutely kill it.’
Grab the Pet Sounds playlist HERE and check the past playlists HERE.
‘Beg, Borrow Or Steel’
01 Blackwater Side – Bert Jansch
02 How Many More Years ? – Howlin’ Wolf
03 The Hunter – Albert King
04 Nervous Breakdown – Eddie Cochran
05 You Shook Me – Willie Dixon
06 Dazed And Confused – Jake Holmes
07 When The Levee Breaks – Memphis Minnie
08 Watch Your Step – Bobby Parker
09 I Can’t Quit You Baby – Otis Rush
10 Taurus – Spirit
11 You Need Love – Muddy Waters
12 You Need Loving – The Small Faces
13 Killing Floor – Howlin’ Wolf
14 Travelling Riverside Blues – Robert Johnson
15 Bring It On Home – Sonny Boy Williamson
16 Shake ‘Em On Down – Bukka White
17 Drop Down Mama – Sleepy John Estes
Roland is a man after my own heart, He can often be found at the Dog when I play records and is one of the few people I know who really gets Pet Sounds, you can tell this by his regular requests. These are ‘Save Me’ by Nina Simone, Anything by Duran Duran or ‘Tears’ by 80s indie band The Chameleons. I like playing songs for Ro. So it’s with great pleasure that I hand things over to him this week. He originally came to me with a YouTube mix, which was admittedly brilliant, however, not in keeping with the format. After going away and digging deep, I think he’s come back with one of the best realised playlists yet. So, take it away my man…
About Roland: That bloke at the bar, the one with the hair and the Guinness.
About this playlist: I randomly stumbled across the last track, “Polaroid Roman Photo – Ruth” on youtube and when Charlie launched Friends of Pet Sounds he suggested I make a playlist based around it. So, the criteria for being in the list became: European, late seventies to mid-eighties, mostly electronic, a bit experimental or quirky and still “fresh” sounding. The research I did revealed a set of genres I knew little about (SynthPop / Neue Deutsche Welle / NewWave / ColdWave / SynthWave / DarkWave ) which I’ve lumped together under a catch all title of Post Punk. The other thing I’ve tried to do was use examples that cover a broad emotional range; from brilliant pop silliness like Da Da Da – Trio, through to the epic moodiness of Twinkling Stars – Nine Circles. I’ve put Kraftwerk first as a sort of reference point, something most people will know. I’m so pleased Charlie asked for this because I’ve really enjoyed the challenge and completely fallen in love with these tunes.
Grab the Pet Sounds playlist HERE and check the past playlists HERE.
‘European Post Punk 1978 – 1985’
01 The Man Machine – Kraftwerk 1978 German
02 Victim de Societe – Telex 1979 Belgian
03 Triangle – Jacno 1979 French
04 Kebab Träume – D.A.F 1980 German
05 Dilemma – Moderne 1981 French
06 Twinkling Stars – Nine Circles 1982 Dutch
07 The Devil’s Dancers – Oppenheimer Analysis 1982 English
08 Da Da Da – Trio 1982 German
09 A Gift of Tears – Jeunesse D’ Ivoire 1983 Italian
10 Felicita – Deux 1983 French
11 Mit Dir – Robert Gorl 1983 German
12 Collapsing New People – Fad Gadget / Einstürzende Neubauten 1983 British / German
13 Anyway – Oto 1984 French
14 Come Back to Sarah – End of Data 1984 French
15 Polaroid Roman Photo – Ruth 1985 French
“Welcome Strong Islanders, my name is Max, I’m twenty-three years old and I can tie my shoelaces in double-knots. When Mr Waddington asked for a themed playlist, my little eyes lit up.
There is something undeniably appealing for those with a love of music (and even for those without) to be able to collect, record and put together mixes with a variety of combinations, both contrasting and coinciding, that in turn create a soundscape that can seemingly paint an overall bigger picture.
Equally appealing was choosing a theme, and much like Sam in playlist #03, mine was almost stumbled upon. I never realised how many artists, DJ’s and producers include types of animals in their work. Some of these are old faves, others will be new. As for the links to the theme, most are obvious, and some extremely tedious, but all just about fit. Honest! Enjoy. Next stop, I’m opening up a Pet Shop on Albert Road in between the Co-Op and Head Hairdressers, hope Tim won’t mind.”
Another banger, there are some really cool and interesting cuts on here. 3 highlights for me are a Can tune, they never fail to excite me, an amazing Bees remix by Nicolas Jaar, showing just how much you can do with so little and an epic closer from Connan Mockasin. A great selection Max, thanks a lot brother.
Catch Max doing his appropriately named Education Does… night every Thursday night at LJRs with other equally able educators Ash and Dan amongst other guests.
Grab the Pet Sounds playlist HERE and check the past playlists HERE.
‘Pet Animal Sounds’
01 Ready For War, Ready For Whut? – Birdy Nam Nam
02 Sing Swan Song – Can
03 The Birds (Pts 1-2) – Monster Rally
04 Last Night At The Jetty – Panda Bear
05 After Hours – Caribou
06 Come Home – Little Dragon
07 Ode To Bear – Mount Kimble
08 Tarantula – Zomby
09 Winter Rose (Nicolas Jaar Remix) – The Bees
10 Eyesdown – Bonobo & Andreya Triana
11 Trick Pony – Charlotte Gainsbourg
12 Liquidator – Harry J Allstars
13 Women – Timber Timbre
14 Sheep – Gonjasufi
15 Forever Dolphin Love – Connan Mockasin
Follow Us